


Road Trip for the Holidays

by mercurialkitty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas Cookies, Colorado, Denver, F/M, Holidays, Hunter Retirement (Supernatural), John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kansas, M/M, POV Alternating, Road Trips, The Impala (Supernatural), Wheat Jesus, far too much detail about tourist destinations, kid in college
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28219560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercurialkitty/pseuds/mercurialkitty
Summary: For SPN FAMILY’S SECRET SANTA 2020 - A gift for castielscrookedtrenchcoat on TumblrCastiel and Dean pack up Baby for a holiday road trip to meet their extended family. The first part of the journey is a trip to go pick up Jack from his college campus.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

Cas is standing in deep concentration looking at the contents of the trunk. Dean walks out with the old green cooler, a duffle bag, and a couple of coats thrown over his shoulder.

“Cas how long have you been standing there?”

“A little over seven minutes.”

“Uh-huh.” Dean opens the back seat to arrange things. “So if we got everything, then I just need to bring Miracle…”

“Shush,” whispers Cas as he looks over the many packages mentally checking off lists. Dean does his own inventory of the snacks already in the back seat. 

“Cookies for Jack?” asks Cas. 

“They’re in the back seat.” 

“Let’s put them in the trunk. It will be cooler. I don’t want the icing to melt.”

“Cas, I’m not going to run the heater that high, and they’ll slide around.”

“There are more items in the trunk so there will be less sliding than on the backseat.”

“What if he wants to eat them on the ride?”

“They’re for him to have when we get to Denver. We have candy with nougat in the snacks.”

“…”

“Dean?”

“Hold on.” Dean gingerly picks up the specially acquired cookie carrier and passes it to Cas. Cas makes a few adjustments of the package puzzle that is the trunk, and nests the carrier between a throw blanket and a bag of stocking stuffers. All of a sudden Cas looks a bit ill.

“Babe, what’s going on?” Dean asks as Cas slams the trunk shut and fixes Dean with a worried look. “Did we forget to get someone a present? Did we get Donna the wrong size after all?”

“I had a cupcake carrier flashback.”

Dean blinks at him and then says, “Ya want to run that by me again?”

“Remember when I called you about that case a few years ago — the time when I told you that Sam had a blonde wife and wore glasses and a cardigan?”

“Heh, heh, yeah. That was a good one,” says Dean with a big smile that crumples into a frown. “So you had a flashback about Sam going bad?”

“No, I had a flashback about his” — Cas pauses to make quotation marks — “wife. When we first met her she had a special cupcake carrier.”

“And?”

“I’m just a bit concerned…”

“That maybe you’re going full Stepford wife?”

Cas huffs and gives him a glare. “Maybe.”

“Cas, I’m the one who baked the cookies!”

“But I spent a two hours decorating them using piping bags and watching YouTube videos as guides, and the carrier was my idea.”

“But you don’t usually worry about doing things that aren’t … I don’t know — manly.”

“No, it’s not gender roles. It’s the perfectionism.”

“Oh…,” Dean says trailing off. He nods, then says, “Ok, I finally get it.” 

“You do?”

“Sure. Cas, come sit in Baby a minute.”

They shift into the car, and Dean reaches over and grabs his hand. “Sweetheart, we took a long time to tell each other ‘I love you.’ You’ve always had so much love in you, and now you tell all the people you love all the time, but we can’t always show them, or spend time with them. I mean, Jody and Donna and the girls are still five hours away. Sam and Eileen are on the coast. Jack’s pretty close, but he’s busy on campus. Our picking him up will be the first time you’ve gotten to see him in nearly a month, what with him having finals. This is just you wanting to show everyone how much you love them. It was a great idea to just pick a place for us all to meet and have nice, long vacation together. So don’t worry, you’re never going to become a rigid control freak, because everything you do is about love. It doesn’t have to be perfect. And no one you love is going to judge you.”

Cas has a smile and watery eyes, and he shifts over and embraces his husband. That might turn into a kiss that turns into another deeper kiss, and…the sound of a Demi Lovato song plays loudly. 

“Son of a bitch!” huffs Dean, but given the ringtone, he’s not as put out as he might be.

Cas scrambles and wriggles the phone out of Dean’s pocket.

“Hello Dads!”

“Jack! We were going to leave shortly. There isn’t a problem is there?”

“Uh, no. But there is something last minute. Uhm…”

Cas takes in a breath, and Dean says, “Just spit it out.”

“…I know it’s supposed to be a big family holiday, but do you think Jeremy could come? It’s just that he had a big fight with his dad, and he’s sad and angry…”

Cas and Dean make lightning fast eye contact and it’s decided.

“Of course” says Cas.

“Just make sure he’s packed up and prepared for snow,”says Dean.

“And that his parents know where he is! Give them my number,” adds Cas.

“We’ll give you a little extra time.”

“Thank you! I know it’s going to be great, but..uhm”

“But..uhm, what?” asks Dean.

“Since he has a car, it would make sense for us to come to you.”

“Except that I haven’t checked out his car,” says Dean. “What’s he drive?”

“…”

“Jack?”

“Uh. Well, it’s a new Tesla 3. He says it was a divorce-guilt car from his parents.”

“…”

“Dean? We can park it in Lebanon and all go to Denver in Baby,” offers Jack.

“He’s just processing,” answers Cas. “That’s fine. We’ll go out for lunch in town and figure it out when you two get here. Just text us when you’re close.”

“‘Kay. Love you dads!”

“Love you, too!” Cas and Dean say in unison.

“So, an electric car and an upset young adult who may or may not be romantically interested in our son?” asks Cas.

“No, it’s fine. I did say something about being flexible and not a control freak.”

Cas hums. “There are benefits to being flexible.” He raises an eyebrow and gives Dean a pointed look.

“So we have a lot of extra time at home,” says Dean.

“Yes,” says Cas moving closer to Dean.

“Yes,” says Dean leaning back.

It’s a really good morning before a road trip for the holidays.


	2. The invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A jump back in time to see how Jack's friend got invited to the Christmas break holiday.
> 
> I didn't really expect to add more to this, but I've been getting Jack feels, and I want to see him be a kid and make friends. Since he looks too old to fit in with normal 4-year-olds, and he drinks beer, college seems the appropriate place. He's a first year student at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. See notes for other background.

Jack texts, “✋🏻I’m here!” then pulls his second KU ID, the modified one, which is nicer than saying fake, and taps the pad with it. The lobby door opens and he waves at the security monitor who nods. During the quick elevator ride to Jeremey’s campus apartment, he double-checks the supplies in his backpack. He’s about to knock, when there’s a large thud against the door from the other side. Pause, thud, pause, thud. It’s the ball.

“Jeremy, will you stop and let me in?” There’s one last louder thud, and then a crash, and a loud, “Shit!”

Jack is pretty used to the door, so he has it unlocked with about the same speed as a key. “So what did you break this time?”

“One of Ajay’s shot glasses. I can replace it at the bookstore. I’ll clean it up myself. Just, later, ok?” Jeremy’s looking for his ball.

“Jeremy…” Jack walks over to him.

“No, don’t say it!” protests Jeremy holding up his hands as a barrier and trying to twist away.

Jack still manages to put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder, turn him around, and look into his eyes and earnestly say, “Let me help.”

Jeremy gives a defeated groan and says, “You’re too young for this Dad thing you do. Why are you so extra?”

“Three dads,” says Jack looking for the hand vacuum.

Jeremy goes to collapse on the couch and Jack flicks the throw blanket lying on the back of it to land on Jeremy’s head. He leaves it, and just lies there making disgruntled sounds. After cleaning the broken glass, Jack takes a look. By now Jeremy has made a space for breathing, but is otherwise covered up.

Jack sits on the rug in front of the couch, and pulls out his phone to texts for a while, knowing that ignoring his friend is the best bet. He texts Sam, then catches up with Claire, snorting a few times. Then he reaches for his backpack and pulls out Marvelous Marvin. Jack pushes it under the blanket. Yet another groan, slightly more disgusted in tone comes out, but Marvin doesn’t reappear.

Jack smiles, exceptionally pleased with himself, and runs through his group chats. Carmen says she won’t forgive him if he doesn’t send her pics of his Dads and the gifts she helped him to pick out. He shakes his head. He should also send Canada pics wearing his new sweaters. She says that she’s become invested in his Look and is determined to glow him up. She’s threatening to call his Aunt Rowena, which the Dads would definitely not like. He’s starting to get hungry and pulls a nougat bar out of his backpack. The rustle catches Jeremy’s attention and he surfaces from under the throw. “My aunt sent me a finals present. I’ve got paper in my wallet. Want to order food? It’ll be on me.”

Jack changes apps and asks, “So what do you want?”

“Everything.”

Thirty minutes later everything translates to containers of Chinese take-out, wings, fries, and a cheese pizza on the coffee table. Another 30 minutes later and the fries are decimated, Jeremy’s finishing a plate of wings, Jack is eating out of Chinese take out cartons, and half the pizza has been declared breakfast food for tomorrow. Jeremy decides to ask a question.

“Jack, do you feel like you know your Dads?”

“Yeah.”

“Really well?”

“Yes.”

Annoyed, Jeremy sets some bones down on his plate. “So of all your dad’s, Cas is your father, right? Is he the one you’d live with if he and Dean didn’t stick together?”

“Dean and Cas will be together for the rest of their lives. Their love is like — _Princess Bride_ True Love, so I’m pretty sure I’ll live with them as long as I want. I guess I could go be with Sam and Eileen. I miss Sam. He always understood me and supported me. But I know Cas would do anything for me. He’s even chosen me over Dean before. He’s chosen me over everything. I feel like the only real fights they had were over me.” Jack trails off and looks a little sad.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to bring up anything bad. I didn’t think you’d ever had problems with Dean. You’re always so happy when you talk about him.”

“It feels like a long time ago. It wasn’t really, but we’re both… different. It was… really bad, but don’t think anything like it will ever happen again. We’ve talked about it. We have a friend Mia who is a counselor. We talked with her. I can still talk to her if I feel like it.”

“Is he ok now? He’s not being a dick to you, is he?”

“No, he’s good to me. I like Dean. He taught me how to fish and to drive, and I like spending time with him. Just a lot of stuff happened, and he and Sam didn’t have the best family situation. His father would say… would do… terrible things. Dean practically raised Sam. Mia said that he has to unlearn some stuff.”

“Shit,” says Jeremy again, feeling at a loss. “I shouldn’t have told you I was upset about my parents getting divorced. It’s stupid. They’re not arguing. They’re not mad at each other. They don’t treat me bad. Honestly, I know I’m spoiled. I probably got that car out of divorce guilt. Lots of people have it worse. I’m being an asshole.”

“But you thought they’d be together. You have a right to be upset.”

“I thought I knew them. It feels like they lied to me. They never argued. Like never. In high school I heard other people’s parents arguing at games all the time. They always acted like a team. I thought they were different, and they’d be together forever, but they never loved each other.”

“They didn’t say that did they?”

“No, they said the opposite — that they love each other, but then they’re getting divorced, so what the hell does that mean?”

Jack gets quiet, and sets his container down. “I guess your mom and Dad are like my mom and Cas.”

Jeremy looks down. “So what was it like when they got divorced?”

Jack says, “They were never married.”

Jeremy looks at Jack with wide eyes. “Oh. You don’t have to tell me the story.”

“I can’t tell you everything anyway, but I know they do love each other. They just aren’t in love romantically. They were never in love that way. There was this time when…I was… I was just with my mom, and we were away from Cas, and we weren’t expecting him. And he came in the house, and he was just so happy to see me that he laughed. And then he saw my mom, and I could see how much he cared about her. He thought he’d let her down but she said I was wonderful, so that meant Cas hadn’t let us down. Then she just hugged him. It meant a lot for me to see them together, but it’s not like him and Dean. It’s ok that my Mom lives far away, because through Cas and Dean and Sam, I have a really big family of amazing people. Most of my aunts and uncles aren’t really related to me. We have a saying that ‘Family don’t end in blood.’” Jack shrugs and smiles.

“Yeah, you deserve that. At Thanksgiving, my parents were saying, we’re always going to be family. They’ve been trying to break it to me all Fall, but I wouldn’t believe it. Then when I was on the phone with Dad talking about finishing finals, it felt like he was hiding something. He’s no good at keeping secrets. He wants to transfer to a different job and he’d have to move out by a certain time. It was like the divorce was going to be real, and I blamed him. I said I didn’t want to go home. It hurt him, but it’s true. I just don’t feel like I can handle being home with them yet.”

“How did you leave it?”

“I’m supposed to sleep on it. Call them first thing in the morning.”

“Look, go ahead and do that, and if you don’t want to go, come with me for break.”

“But you’re not going home. You’re going on a big family trip.

“Sam’s rented an enormous house for us outside of Denver. It’s a surprise. Dean thinks it’s going to be a couple of plain little cabins. He doesn’t know that we could fit like 20 people if we wanted, and there’s a big kitchen and a pool table.”

“How many people are coming?”

“I think twelve on Christmas! And they won’t even all be there the whole time, so there’s plenty of room.”

“I don’t know Jack. That’s a lot of people. I’m not sure I’m up for it.”

“Then what would you do?”

Jeremy just shrugs. “I’ve got aunts and uncles in St. Louis and Chicago.”

“I understand if it’s too much, but you’d really like the Dads and my mom. Claire’s coming. She’s tough on the outside, but she’s cool. She’s like a sister, and her girlfriend Kaia is really sweet. If Claire gets to be too much, Kaia will take care of it.

“What is it with you being surrounded by women with C names?”

“Katelyn is with a K, and Kaia is with a K, too.”

Jeremy rolls his eyes and says, “The struggle is real.” Jack looks slightly displeased, but he quickly moves on. “I think it’s going to be nice.”

Jeremy relents a bit. “Knowing what a pool shark you are, and that your Dads taught you, I _would_ like to see them play.”

“Yeah?” Jeremy nods. “Sam and Dean are pretty amazing.”

“And it sounds like a great place to bring my DSLR.”

“Definitely.”

“Will you let me work up to talking to my parents in the morning? I know it would be better for you to call your dads tonight, but...,” he just shrugs. “I think my parents will be ok with it, but I’ll have to FaceTime them.”

“That’s fine.”

“If you want to crash here, you can take Ajay’s bed. I know he won’t mind. He wants me try to get you to move in with us sophomore year anyway — that way we can ditch Kyle.”

“Sure, I’ll stay tonight. Uh, I’m thinking about running for an office in my Schol Hall.”

“Yeah, I figured you’ve got so much going on there that he shouldn’t count on it. Well, you know where everything is. I should clean off the coffee table — and DO NOT say let me help!”

Jack gives his wave and heads with his backpack to the bathroom. Jeremy surveys the mess on the table and spots Marvelous Marvin on the sofa. He shakes his head and starts cleaning things up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, probably some of you might be wondering things like "is this going to be a romantic thing with the OC and Jack?" and "what is everyone's gender identity." I'm really not intending to fill in a lot of blanks, and I'm thinking that Jack is really just wanting to build friendships. This friendship could be a foundation for something else later, but that shouldn't come up in this particular story.
> 
> I head canon that like Cas, having been an angel/nephilim Jack doesn't really think about gender, so he'd see himself as NB, regardless of how others see him.
> 
> In this AU world, you'll see lots of names of people and beings who should be in Heaven, Hell or the Empty, who aren't where we left them. There's been a shuffle of location, and I hope to give some glimpses of how that happened in later chapters.
> 
> There's been a bit of a reboot from the canon finale, and Jack doesn't have God!powers or God!knowledge. He's a human being. Cas is also human.


	3. Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back stories, cover stories, and lunch.
> 
> We start back to Dean and Cas, but meet Jack and Jeremy for lunch.

Cas has to take a call from Jeremy’s mom. Setting himself to dad duties, Dean grabs a laptop to research Jeremy’s electric car, investigating charging station locations and miles per charge, and thinking about whether or not to propose parking it. Miracle lays on top of his feet. Eventually Cas comes by with a sigh. “So what’s the plan?” Dean asks looking up from his search.

“Keep Jeremy this week and see if he’s ready to go home in time for Christmas Eve. His parents are flexible. They’ll come pick him up, or get his car if that makes things simpler, arrange travel…They just want him to be safe, and not alone. I told them not to, but they sent me money for his expenses.”

“They sound pretty well off. ”

“Yes, they do. I feel I should say that his mom told me it’s an amicable divorce. She said that they were friends who decided to get married and raise a child together, and they’ll always be friends divorced or not.”

“She just told you that over the phone?”

“Yes. I’ll text you and Sam full names and Mel’s — Melanie’s — email and phone number. Sam can call Jody. We need to let them know we’ll have a guest.”

Dean sighs and closes the laptop. “Yeah, we need to make sure nobody walks in talking about Jack’s archangel uncles, our werewolf godchildren, or any of the really crazy shit.”

“I agree everyone needs warning, but they’re used to cover stories. You’d be surprised at how normal talking about our family can sound. Jack has a doting Aunt Amara whose work prevents her from joining us. Jack’s uncle Michael and your half-brother work with her and are inseparable.” He notes that Dean snorts a laugh at that comment, and with wry smile Cas continues, “I’ve been told we should refer to them as the Milligans.” Cas scores a look of surprise from Dean.

“Are you telling me that the archangel Michael took time from his heavenly duties to make sure we’d know that he’s taking my half-brother’s name?”

Cas shrugs. “I didn’t think it was unexpected.”

“I live in a telenovela. You’re right I should have seen it coming. What did Gabriel say about it?” Dean asks.

“He said that since Sam is taken he wants to be a Novak. He’s supposed to be my older brother now in any cover story.”

“I think my head is gonna explode,” Dean says.

“That’s likely the intention. They all should have made their requestsknown several months ago when Sam prepared the cover story for Jack’s fall semester” huffs Cas with an expression somewhere between amusement and mild annoyance. Dean finds himself smiling again. For one thing, Cas looks adorable when he’s annoyed. For another, it’s a miracle that minor family squabbles are all they have to deal with from heaven these days.

Dean refocuses as Cas continues, “Since they can’t leave Heaven, I doubt it will matter. No one will be running into them.”Cas’ phone signals a text alert, and he moves quickly to retrieve his phone again, leaving Dean with his thoughts.

Dean wonders if it’s strange to be so worried about about Jack being at college, considering he remade much of heaven — but then the load of being God had become too much, with both Jack and the universe threatening to crack. With Amara trying to hold everything together, it took the help of heaven, hell, and many they pulled from the empty to create a new balance, but they’ve managed to once again re-write their story. What’s a few more minor details, thinks Dean. He stands up and stretches, dislodging Miracle from his feet. Now both of them are ready for some movement, and he’s about to get one of Miracle’s toys, but Cas is back already.

“Jack wanted to let us know that he told Jeremy a little more than we planned about Kelly.”

“What exactly did he tell?”

“Instead of keeping to the cover story that Kelly and I divorced when he was young, he admitted that Kelly and I were never married or romantically in love.”

“Wow. Jack painted you two as the friends who had a child together, right? Just like Jeremy’s parents?”

“It would seem so. You have to admit that it’s more true than Kelly being my ex-wife.” said Cas.

“Yeah, I never liked the idea of telling people you’d been married to anyone but me, so I approve. But Jack’s trying to show his friend that everyone can be still be one big happy family. We’re the example, aren’t we?” Dean looks a bit uncomfortable at the idea, but Cas just smiles.

“I think we _are_ a big happy family: Sam and Eileen, Claire and Kaia, Jody and Donna, Alex, Patience, Charlie… and that’s just some of our Earth-side family. Kelly is making a special trip from heaven for Christmas and she’ll update us on our heaven-side family. When it’s time, we’ll see them again. I’m very happy Dean.”

“Sweetheart, if you’re happy, then everything’s good. C’mere.” Dean opens his arms. Cas goes to him, and somehow Dean manages to pull them into one of the bunker’s club chairs with Cas on his lap.

“Damn. With those thighs of yours I think I should sit in your lap.”

Cas chuckles, and with his lips at Dean’s ear he says, “Later.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Cas. Thanks for loving me enough to organize this circus.”

“I can’t help it, and half the circus is mine, but you’re welcome.”

—————————

When Jack texts that they’re about half an hour away Dean gets Baby running. The Impala has been sitting packed all morning, so there’s not much to grab. Cas gets settled as shotgun with Miracle in his lap, a wet nose pressed to Baby’s front passenger window. Dean called his go-to diner to make arrangements for Miracle earlier, so they’re all set.

“So what do you know about Jeremy?” asks Dean as he eases Baby onto the road.

“Same things you know.”

“Just run it by me again. I want to make sure I’m not mixing up all his friends.”

“They’re in a math class together. We ran into him and his parents on Family Weekend, but I don’t think Jack knew him very well then. We just said a quick hello. It took several weeks into their study group for them to start ‘hanging out’.” Dean can’t help a smile. Even though Cas didn’t make finger quotes, Dean could hear them in his voice.

“What happened to Brian?” Dean asks.

“Nothing happened to Brian.” Cas wrinkles his brown a little.

“Jack doesn’t talk about him as much as he used to.”

“Naturally at the start of the semester his roommate would be the person he knows best. Brian has a declared major, and a different schedule. Jack still talks about him, and they have at least one class in the same building, but yes, he speaks of him less than in August and September.”

“Is that the same thing for Terry and Mike — the suite mates? Just around less?”

“I think Jack sees them at dinner regularly.”

“But there’s that flock of girls. Doesn’t he go out with them to dinner?”

“How many young women are in a flock, Dean?” Cas squints at him.

“All the ones with the freakin’ C names: Cara, Caitlyn, Carmen — wait was one of them Candy? Does our son hang out with someone named Candy a lot?”

“Kate-lyn is with a K. And Candy is Candace. I understand that she’s an extremely intelligent and poised young woman. They call her Candy ironically. I think her real nickname is Canada.”

“She has an ironic nickname and a real nickname? Did they all come as a set?”

“They’re in his theater appreciation class. They go to plays and performances together. The women may be in a sorority together, or maybe they just sat alphabetically by first name? I don’t know how he got an alliterative friend group.”

“An alliterative friend group? All I know is that it’s weird, Ca…uh, Cas.”

“Oh is it? I’ll let Claire and Kaia know.” Dean looks over and sees Cas staring at him as if questioning his life choices.

“What happened to Ajay? Wasn’t it always Ajay and Jeremy? When did it become just Jeremy?”

“Ajay is Jeremy’s roommate. They’re all in the math class together. Dean, I don’t think we can figure out Jack’s feelings by how much he mentions any one friend.”

“Cas, our kid is a college freshman at four That’s bad enough. I’m just not sure if I’m ready for him to have a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

“It’s not our choice, but I’ll admit that I’m not ready either. Dean, I think he just wants to make friends right now, so I doubt that it’s going to be an issue on his part. My worry is other young people.

“Are you envisioning a trail of broken hearts?”

“I’m trying not to envision anything, but yes, I do worry about people getting hurt if Jack’s not ready. Regardless, we have to trust him.”

“Yeah, I know you’re right, and I do. I trust Jack.”

They’re parked in front of the diner when they see a Tesla pull up. The two young men get out. Jeremy is just a touch taller than Jack, with blond hair and a more stocky build. He has a handsome face, which puts Dean on self-centered, douche bag alert. Dean wonders if it’s stupid to breathe a sigh of relief when he notices that he’s wearing what looks like an extremely comfortable and completely unflattering lumpy sweater the color of wet cement under his open coat. He looks quiet, and not particularly demanding. Of the two, Jack looks the most outgoing, confident, and stylish — who knows where that sweater came from. Everyone in the family sends Jack care packages. Dean can’t help a proud smile as he gets out of the car. Cas is beaming with joy at seeing Jack, and Dean’s heart melts a little. While Cas is embracing Jack, Dean offers his hand. “Hey Jeremy, I’m Dean. ”

“Thanks for letting me come along with you guys,” says Jeremy obliging Dean with a polite if somewhat uncertain handshake.

“It’s no trouble,” says Dean. As soon as his hand is free, Miracle jumps into Dean’s arms. “This trouble-maker is Miracle.” It’s a bit tricky to give Jack a hug this way, but neither Miracle or Jack seem to mind getting squished against each other, and Jack gives Miracle a ruffle on his head and receives a lick or two to his face.

Since becoming human, Cas is a lot more touchy, so he just says, “Hello Jeremy” and immediately moves in for quick hug. Fortunately Jeremy goes with it, and in fact seems more comfortable with the hug than the handshake. Or maybe it’s being more comfortable with Cas, considers Dean.

“Ok, just gotta get Miracle set up then we can head in and get lunch.”

“Trunk?” Asks Jack.

“No!” Both Dean and Cas yell.

“Sorry Jack, surprises and presents in the trunk. Backseat,” apologizes Dean.

“Got it,” Jack gets Miracle’s travel bed out, and puts it on the sidewalk table that’s in front of the window booth with paper table tent that reads reserved. Jeremy raises an eyebrow at Jack as he and Dean get Miracle comfy.

Cas comes close to Jeremy and says, “Dean’s a Dog Dad.”

“You damn right I am! Stupid ordinances. At the Roadhouse I wouldn’t have to do this.”

“Alas, Ellen can’t own every restaurant in the United States,” says Cas wryly.

Jeremy politely holds the door for them as they enter and head for the window booth. Dean slides in next to the window on one side, with Cas following. Miracle licks the glass once as Dean taps on it. Cas rests his chin on Dean’s shoulder as he coos at Miracle. Jack quickly grabs his phone and takes a picture of Cas and Dean with Miracle on the other side of the glass.

“Send me that,” Jeremy says to Jack, and then squirms slightly when Dean and Cas look at him. “Uh, my parents will like seeing stuff from the trip.” He then looks down determined to focus on the menu. Very softly he says, “I have to text a few times.”

They can hear the ping as Jack sends it, and the waitress comes up. Everyone keeps it simple with burgers, and they get in an order before the rush of people starting to come in.

“You’re lookin’ good kid,” says Dean indicating Jack’s sweater. It’s a simple, light blue sweater with a dark blue collar and cuffs, but the color matches his eyes and somehow looks classy. “Early Christmas present?”

“Rowena told me to say, ‘Auntie Rowena is going keep your Dads from wrecking your fashion sense with plaid at Christmas.’”

“She’s freakin’ Scottish! What has she got against plaid?” sputters a highly offended Dean.

“Dean..,”warns Cas looking at him sternly.

“Your aunt sounds like Canada,” says Jeremy with a small smile.

“So you know the alliterative friend group?” Asks Dean as Cas makes a choking sound. Dean pats Cas’ back, with one hand and pushes some water over with the other.

Jeremy smiles much bigger this time, and nudges Jack with his shoulder, “See Jack?” He leans a bit more towards Dean. “I call them the Canada geese. I mean that as a compliment, because geese are scary and Canada’s intimidating af. There’s a reason there was a goose game, right? Anyway, I’m pretty sure Canada’s crew will rule the world someday.”

Cas leans across and pats Jacks hand sympathetically as the waitress arrives with lunch.


	4. On the road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's finish up lunch and get them on the road.

Lunch goes smoothly, with everyone sharing baskets of onion rings and fries. Between eating, Dean and Jeremy talk about charging his car, and agree that it makes sense to take a slightly longer route that will take them to a charging station in a couple of hours. There’s the added bonus that it’s next to a large travel plaza with a dog walk and a Starbucks.

“Hey, that’s near the wheat Jesus sign,” interrupts Jack. “We should stop and take pictures.”

As many times as he’s crossed the midwest on I-70 Dean knows about the wheat Jesus billboard, and the enormous ball of twine that they — thankfully — won’t be passing, but it still takes him by surprise. Considering Jack was temporarily God, having an interest in wheat Jesus seems odd, but apparently Jack is now into kitschy tourist things.

“Yeah, and there’s a couple of wind farms just further down on our way to Denver.” Jeremy looks uncomfortable again, but “Uh Dean, would it be ok if we make a couple of quick stops for pictures?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he says quickly looking at Cas for confirmation. Cas simply looks relived that he didn’t have to frantically signal Dean with his eyes to say yes.

The waitress stops by and Dean regretfully passes on having the pie with lunch, as he doesn’t want to get to drowsy on more carbs and sugar. Cas gives him an approving look, and orders a couple of pecan pie slices to go, since they should keep in the cooler.

Dean resumes looking at a map on his phone and makes a decision. “I’ve been thinking that we don’t want to get to the cabins in the dark, so maybe we should stay in Denver overnight. Then it will be a short final trip — maybe a couple of hours.We can take a quick look around tomorrow, if you want.”

“THE BLUE BEAR!” exclaims Jack.

“The what?” Dean and Cas ask together. Cas tilts his head at Jack and looks confused.

“Are you sure?” asks Jeremy looking at Jack uncertainly.

“Yes. I’m sure we could find it.” says Jack with a big smile.

“Uh, there’s a giant bear statue in Denver,” Jeremy pauses a bit hesitant, “It’s blue and you know — touristy?”

Dean looks at Cas again. He still looks confused but there’s affection for Jack in his eyes. Confused affection is another one of Cas’ adorable looks. Well, no reason not to make them all happy, he thinks.

“I’m up for whatever you guys want to do so, as long as I get my six hours tonight and some coffee tomorrow morning.” Now that they’re retired, Cas insists that Dean always try to sleep at least six hours instead of four even if it doesn’t always happen.

“Thanks Dad,” chirps Jack with a big smile. Dean stares a bit. Usually Jacks says Dads referring to them in plural, or he calls Cas Dad, but that Dad and smile was just for him, so he feels a bit stunned.

Cas takes over. “Jack, why don’t you and Jeremy see if Miracle needs some water? We’ll pay the bill and give Sam a call to let him know the schedule.” As the boys slide out of the both, Cas places a hand on Dean’s thigh just to ground him a bit. Dean nods at him and puts a hand on top of Cas’ to give it a squeeze.

Cas pulls up Sam on his phone, and puts it on speaker. After quick hellos, they run through the plan.

“Wow,” says Sam.

“What Sammy?” Dean frowns and shrugs his shoulders at Cas.

“The Dean Winchester I used to know would never have planned to stop for the night somewhere two hours from his destination,” says Sam with a bit of awe in his voice, but Dean doesn’t quite catch the tone.

“Hey, I’ve got some stranger’s kid driving and his electric car to charge. No way we’re going up a mountain in the dark. Ya gotta cut me some slack here.”

“You’re misunderstanding me Dean. I think it’s great!”

“You do?” asks Dean. Cas gives a slight eye roll as he moves the phone closer to Dean.

“Yeah, of course. There’s no rush. Take another day if Jack and his friend want. Take two. Make sureyou go out somewhere great for dinner. Don’t eat at the hotel restaurant or another burger joint.”

“Burger joints are great places to eat,” protests Dean.

“Try something different. Live a little. Cas don’t enable him! Make him take you all somewhere nice.”

“We’ll need to find somewhere with a heated patio since we have Miracle, but I understand Denver is a dog friendly city. We should be fine,” says Cas in his supportive voice. A grumbling sound comes out of the speaker, and both Dean and Cas can visualize Sam’s eye roll.

“Just make an effort, ok?”

“We will” Dean and Cas say in chorus.

“I’ll text you and Eileen at our next stop,” says Cas.

“See ya, bitch,” says Dean.

“Jerk.”

“Good bye, Sam!”

“Bye!”

“Ya know Cas, I’m glad we have legit unlimited plans and good phones nowadays — no more cheap burners. I feel like we spend half our time on the phone.”

Cas chuckles. “I have to agree with you. It’s certainly a mixed blessing.”

Dean has a quick memory flash of Cas saying “The voice says I’m running out of minutes.” Just because he can, Dean gives Cas a quick but tender kiss that Cas returns sweet and loving before they slide out of the booth. As they leave, Cas grabs the pie and Dean gives their server an additional tip besides what’s on the table, and says, “For setting up the table for Miracle.” She nods a quick thanks and waves as they leave, needing to clear some dishes. He turns to Cas and says, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Miracle is laying down on Jack’s lap, not minding him researching tourist spots with his phone just above. Jack pauses and rests a hand on Miracle who gives a squirm of protest, and then settles down again. Jack ignores some alerts and turns to Jeremy. “So what did you think of the Dads?”

Jeremy makes a big show of moving his head back and forth as if weighing what to say. He glances over at Jack looking at him expectantly. He finally gives Jack a small smile and says, “They’re cool and they’re funny. I like them.” Jack breaks into a beaming smile. Jeremy taps the music app on his screen and then opens the web player. “Here. I’ve got this open so you can pull up whatever you want to listen to.”

“You’re the driver. Driver picks the music. Shotgun shuts his cake hole.”

“What the hell? Oh. That’s a Dean thing isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but you can’t judge him. You already said he was cool, so you can’t change your mind. Seriously, don’t you want to listen to your stuff?”

“Brah, I already know you’re all about the women in music. No surprise there. Besides, we listened to my stuff on the way to Lebanon.”

“Start with Taylor?”

“Maybe not the new album. It makes me sad.” At Jack’s surprised look he adds, “Hey, I don’t live under a rock, and I have feelings.”

“I’ve got a lit playlist.”

The corners of Jeremy’s mouth tic up a little bit. Jeremy thinks about how when Jack texts his slang seems natural, but when he uses it while talking, it always sounds like he’s quoting someone else — not that he uses a ton of slang either. He thinks about how he and Jack are both only children, and probably grew up more used to talking to adults. That gets him thinking about his parents, and he shoves those thoughts down hard. He tries to refocus on Dean’s classic car up the road ahead of them.

“So what did you think, Cas?”

“He was very polite. Quiet. I’m not sure if that’s because we’re parents, or because he’s feeling down. He’s warming up to us though.”

“Yeah, we’ll have him misbehaving and fighting authority soon enough.”

“Let’s not.”

“Are you kidding? That was a joke. We’re boring Cas. Now that we’re retired we’re the boring middle-aged dads kids treat politely. We’re not going to inspire anyone to rebellion.”

Cas hums at that as if considering contradicting Dean, but then asks, “Are you bored?”

“No way Sunshine. I’m excited every day that I wake up and see you. It’s just that being a retired dad is gonna sound boring to everyone else. Especially a kid Jeremy’s age.”

“Maybe you need some projects, though.”

“It can wait. Once Sam gets his stuff sorted out, we can start working on getting a house to fix up and move out of the bunker. Sam will probably need us to do some work for his organization, so we’ll be busy this time next year. I’m enjoying having time with my husband and my kid.” Cas scoots closer and puts a hand on Dean’s thigh.

“Well you have mastered Pinterest, so that’s something of a project,” says Cas. Dean laughs.

“Jack, look. You can see from here — Cas is sitting really close to Dean.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“No, I mean — does that car not have seat belts?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that I'm going to stick with these guys to narrative Christmas. We're roughly 2 weeks away in the story, and so at this rate, I'm thinking I might finish with Christmas in May. It may have 5-6 more chapters, but I'm leaving it a question mark so far. 
> 
> Heads up: while this is going to be very tame fic, I realize that I can't imagine Dean not swearing some more, and not have some joking about middle-aged sex. So I will bump the rating up to teen when we get there.


	5. Wheat Jesus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, suprise. You get an extra chapter. 
> 
> Cheesy tourist stuff and middle-aged dads being gross(cute) over each other.
> 
> In honor of it being Valentine's weekend coming up, and there being a lot of people doing destiel wedding fanworks, there may be some feels this chapter.

Dean throws the ball in the small dog park and watches Miracle twist around trying to get it. “Almost buddy!” Miracle answers with a bark, and picks it up to bring over. Dean turns back toward the travel plaza and sees Jack and Cas with all the Starbucks orders. Jack veers off toward the limited outdoor seating to save a spot. Dean strains to see the charging stations farther off where Jeremy backed his car in. Of course charging stations get relegated to the back of the plaza. As Jeremy sees Cas and Jack, he gets out of his car. Dean turns his attention back to Cas walking toward him with one of his canvas bags on his shoulder. It’s the one with a bee and honeycomb pattern they got at a farmer’s market. There’s something in Cas’ deliberate pace that has Dean back at the barn in his head. They have a cold, bright day, but Dean thinks about all the sparks that night, and feels that familiar and still thrilling swoop in his stomach and tingle in his arms seeing his husband, dorky and hot at the same time. He pockets the ball and steps out to the other side of the fence. Cas walks up until he’s about two inches from him.

“Personal space is definitely overrated,” says Dean.

“About a decade later I realized that if you really had minded me being in your ‘personal space’ all those times, you would have moved backwards instead of making me do it,” says Cas raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t eyebrow me if you want me to make polite conversation with the kids,” returns Dean with a flirty smile. Cas leans in and they share a kiss, and then they both back up, Cas turning to wave at Jack. Dean looks down at Miracle inside the fence, “Ya ready?” As if in answer Miracle turns around in a circle. Dean opens the fence again and he jumps into Dean’s arms, with Dean having to wiggle a bit to hold him. “You’re gonna need a longer work out. You’re getting too used to getting carried,” Dean says to Miracle who just squirms around and licks his face. Being the best husband in the universe, Cas doesn’t point out that Dean could just stop holding him. Miracle is an average-sized dog, but Dean often carries him around as if he were a teacup poodle.

They have time to kill while the Tesla charges, so they sit around the picnic table sipping drinks and chatting. Jack has a hot chocolate and Jeremy has indulged in something just as sweet looking, but with caramel. Although the wheat Jesus sign is within easy walking distance, Cas isn’t crazy about all of them crossing 25, so they’ll get into Baby to make the three-minute drive over. Since they got word of Jeremy’s seat belt question from Jack, as he walks the boys to Baby, Dean explains that the Impala came with just lap belts, because shoulder straps didn’t come out until the 70s. “I knew we’d have Jack on the road trip, so I installed shoulder straps in the back seat a couple weeks ago. The buckle is a little weird, but it retracts like normal.” As Jeremy slides in Dean continues, “Of course Jack’s ridden in this car a long time without them.”

Jack gives him an amused look, and calls him out, “I didn’t just ride. Dean taught me to drive in this car.”

Dean looks bit embarrassed but smiles, and says, “Yeah and I don’t regret it. That was one of the best times we’ve had, but I guess we’re trying to do things the right way now,” and then Dean gets in the driver’s seat with Cas at shotgun.

“Crazy as it seems, I trust this car with my life. My father had us living on the road. We moved around so much, Baby was the most stable home my brother and I had for years, so I’ve been slow to change her.” Dean looks up in the rear view mirror, and sees Jeremy’s wide eyes. “But I ’m gonna put in shoulder straps for me and Cas once we get back to Lebanon. Anyway, when we get to the cabins, we’ll do any driving around in Sammy’s Subaru, so I hope your parents will feel that you’re safe.” Cas briefly touches Dean’s arm.

Both Jack and Jeremy look a little sad, but then Jack breaks into a soft smile. “Besides, I know we have an angel watching over us.” Jeremy looks surprised at that since Jack has never seemed religious, and even more surprised when Cas turns around and says seriously, “It’s true, but we should take precautions anyway.” Dean just chuckles and says, “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to live down having an accident on… anyone’s watch.”

After that talk in the Impala, Jeremy’s a bit unnerved, but he promised Jack he’d take all the kitschy tourist photos he wanted, and it seemed the perfect way to get time using the DSLR, so he concentrates on setting up. It helps that Jack always seems able to change emotions quickly. There’s a trampled path and circle in the tall yellow grass where other tourists have stopped. He’s running around it letting Miracle chase and bark at him, with Dean jumping in to play-growl at Miracle occasionally, working the dog up to release his energy. Cas just watches them full of affection. Jeremy snatches a little of it in video mode, before yelling to Jack that he’s ready. Cas has Jack’s phone to take pictures on it, too.

They do all the corny poses they can think of, including a dumb perspective pic with Jack holding Miracle, and Dean somehow getting the dog to lick so it looks like he’s licking wheat Jesus’ face — or maybe eating it. Given that Jeremy’s found out they all believe in angels, it seems odd to him that they don’t find this sacrilegious. Also, they’re not really at the best angle for any of this, but hopefully they’ll like the results. A few more family shots and finally they’re done. He packs up and sees Dean walking over. “Ok, your turn, kid.”

“I didn’t want to be in a picture.”

“Nah, I mean taking a turn wearing out Miracle.” He hands him the tennis ball and says, “Just show him that and run around and he’ll go along with it.”

“I’ll help again,” calls Jack. Feeling self-conscious Jeremy takes the ball and yells, “Hey look here, boy!” Miracle perks up and Jeremy starts running around the worn circle. When Miracle is about to catch him, Jack jumps out, and makes him run a different way. “Look! I still have this!” Jeremy yells as he waves the tennis ball at him, and Miracle follows. He’s not sure how long they circle around, but Jack is starting to run out of steam. Finally, Jack just plops down on the long grass, as Miracle jumps on top of his chest, while Jack yells, “Oh no, a monster’s got me.” Miracle licks Jack’s face as he squirms and pretends to fend him off. It strikes Jeremy how easily Jack can be himself. Jack is always transparent and always a mystery.

Dean says, “Well, I think that’s enough of that,” and picks up the dog. Cas helps Jack up and dusts off his fashionable and now dirty sweater and fusses over his hair.

Jeremy takes the tennis ball and throws it straight up into the cold, but bright blue sky. He watches it carefully and catches it as it comes down. He feels lighter, as though his head is as clear as the sky. He walks toward Dean who has his hands full holding Miracle. “See if you can get it back in that outer pocket for me, J.” Jeremy has it in the wide pocket of Dean’s jacket and is walking away before he realizes that he now has a nickname.

Cas walks next to Jeremy as he juggles his pack and prepares to get in the driver’s seat of his electric car. Cas lowers his voice conspiratorially and says, “I think Jack will be as worn out as Miracle. If he falls asleep that may make you drowsy, too. You have a holder or hands-free, right?” Jeremy nods. “Just call us and we’ll keep you company.” Jeremy hands Cas his phone, and Cas puts his number in.

Sure enough, Jack is out in about ten minutes, but Jeremy doesn’t feel weird calling Cas, who waves from the other car. They chat a bit about the music he and Jack have been listening to. Cas says he likes Lizzo and Beyonce best, but also Taylor Swift. Jeremy confesses that he’s heard Dean only listens to classic rock. Dean protests that he likes some new stuff, including Taylor, and then says it’s better than liking Celine Dion like his brother. That transitions to a couple stories about his brother and car trips involving farting and vomiting. His mom would hate it. He’s only driving a little over an hour, but he’s getting drowsy, too. He lets Cas know, and they choose a place to pull off. He’s expecting Cas to come drive his car, but instead it’s Dean, who has apparently watched videos about how to drive a Tesla and use the center screen, so he doesn’t have to explain anything. Cas drives Baby with Miracle in the passenger seat the last ninety minutes, and Jeremy sleeps in his own backseat.

As they drive in, Dean can tell that the hotel Cas found is about as dog friendly as it gets. The hotel restaurant has a giant dog logo on it, and they’re across the street from a dog park; although, he’s not sure if they’ll have much time to use it. He watches Cas carefully pull Baby into a parking place without any cars around, just as Dean likes, and he thinks about how thoughtful Cas always is.

He pulls J’s car closer to the front entrance to park. He raises his voice a bit, “Hey Jack and J! We’re at the hotel! Rise and shine!” Jack stretches his body and lifts his arms up. Jeremy rubs his eyes but his body is still in a slumped half ball. By the time Cas comes with Miracle walking on a leash, they still haven’t become vocal, but Jack is at least out of the car. Dean takes his opportunities where he finds them.

“Cas, they’re still groggy. I have the reservation info you sent. Why don’t you steer everyone to the lobby in a minute. I’ll go ahead and get us checked in.”

Cas nods and goes to scratch Jack’s lower back which gets a groan and a “Thanks, Dad,” and starts Jack toward alertness.

As Dean walks in, he sees there’s a very professional looking young woman at the check in. She greets him (not too bubbly) and is ready to take his reservation information. As she confirms a king room and a double room, Dean turns on the charm. “The king is for me and my husband, and the double is for the kids.”

“Oh, any special requests for the kids?”

“They’re teenagers, so I want them close, but not too close. I wanted a little privacy for my husband and me, so definitely not adjoining rooms.”

As if perfectly planned, Cas walks in with the boys in tow. He hands Jack Miracle’s leash as he shifts to pull off his coat. Thanking a perfect alignment of the planets, Dean says, “There are the boys, and that man taking off his coat is my husband.” He now has the woman’s attention, as Cas shrugs out of his coat with a stretch, displaying a broad back and firm biceps under a snug long sleeved T-shirt. She takes a look at Dean, and says, “I get you.”

She whips out a paper floor map. “Because of our courtyard, some of the hallways are short. I’m putting you here, on an outside back wall with an arch on one side. So far there’s no one at all on your side. I can’t guarantee it will stay that way, but if we get to your floor, we’ll start fill-in for the night on the opposite side of the hallway, where the boys will be. Due to storage, this side of the hall starts rooms a little further down. So their room will be almost two rooms down from yours and opposite side. Again, I can’t guarantee you won’t have a neighbor if we have a run at night, but you have good odds and,” she pauses looking at Cas again, “obviously you’re a lucky man.” She slides over the map and the key card with a sly smile, and then makes out another for the boys’ room.

“That I am,” says Dean as Cas walks over, coat over his arm. His hair has that end of day disarray that looks so good on him, and he practically hits the woman with his deep blue eyes. “Hello,” says Cas in his gravel voice. The woman behind the desk blinks a few times and then looks at Dean with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Everything’s already set. Enjoy your stay,” she says to Cas, and then suddenly finds something to do further down the counter.

“You look pleased,”says Cas assessing Dean’s smug look.

“Sunshine, you don’t know the half of it.”

Dean is chuckling to himself as pulls out their toothbrushes to set on the counter.

“What are you laughing at Dean?” Asks Cas.

“That there are plenty of times we were all covered in blood and guts with no shower around, and you just told Jack to go take one because he got dirt in his hair playing with Miracle. We’ve got a different scale these days.”

Cas looks thoughtful as he sees his own reflection in the bathroom mirror behind Dean, but he just nods.

“Speaking of our dog,” Dean says as he looks at Miracle lying on his back on the bath mat, “I thought that after dinner, we’d have the boys keep him in their room overnight.”

“You have plans don’t you?”

“Sweetheart, the room next to us is empty. All the rooms on this side of the hall are empty.”

Cas walks toward him slowly until their noses are almost touching. In that quiet dangerous interrogating voice that Cas can call upon, he says “So you’re saying that not only will it be quiet and non-distracting, if we should make some noise, we wouldn’t disturb anyone.”

“Babe, the only distraction tonight is going to be me.”

Cas takes one last step and wraps his arms around Dean so that they’re touching from legs to chest. Cas stares into Dean’s eyes. Dean thinks he’s going to give him a full-on Pizza Man fiery kiss, but instead Cas brushes his cheek against Dean’s. With his lips next to Dean’s ear, he whispers words from their wedding first in Enochian, and then in English. “We have chosen each other. I love you, my husband.”


	6. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoes on the bed, breakfast chatter, and a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Per story, this is Sunday, December 12

Jack walks into the room with Miracle and just catches one of Jeremy’s dramatic annoyed groans, so he asks,“What’s wrong?”

“How does she do that?”

“Who? Your mom?”

“No, Canada texted me and said to stop wearing my groutfit,” Jeremy says motioning to his grey sweater.

“I think Canada might be a little psychic. Or maybe she just guessed you were wearing it because it’s your favorite sweater. I have a psychic cousin — you know, I’ve told you about Patience? — so it wouldn’t be a big deal if she was. You shouldn’t let it bother you that everyone calls it your groutfit. It looks comfortable, and _most_ of the time you’re more relaxed when you wear it.”

Jack plops on his bed with his shoes on and with Miracle following jumping up.

Jeremy voices a very offended “Brah?!”

“What?”

“You just info dumped me _and_ you’re wearing your shoes on your bed. I can’t believe your dads let you do that.”

“It’s good to be prepared. What if there’s an emergency and we have to run out? I don’t want to take time to put on my shoes.” Jack pauses and then turns toward Jeremey with his eyes narrowed. “You _have_ memorized the emergency exits, right?”

Jeremy has a displeased look, a bit like the time when Jack started grilling everyone on the order of operations. He vaguely points at the direction of the stairwell, and says, “But if there was an emergency that woke you up after you’d gone to bed, you’d have to put on your shoes anyway.”

“But most of the day I’d be prepared. I’ve lowered the odds that I’ll need to do that,” says Jack, as if it’s a simple fact.

Jeremy wants to start several different lines of argument, including that safety aside, it’s just gross, but decides on a tactical retreat.

“So what are your dads up to? I almost expected them to have something for us to do tonight.”

“Nope. We’re on our own. Don’t bother the dads tonight unless you want to be scarred for life — that’s what Sam says — but, Dean and Cas made us cookies earlier.”

Jeremy finds himself learning that he needs to choose what to focus on with this trip, so he avoids asking about being scarred for life and asks, “Cookies?”

Jack gets up and gets a box from the dresser that he must have just brought in, and that Jeremy hadn’t noticed. He also grabs two bottles of milk from the mini-fridge. Jeremy takes a milk container from him and scoots onto his bed to sit with his shoes very pointedly off. Jack takes the hint and sits on the edge of Jeremy’s bed so that his shoes aren’t touching the sheets. It turns out that the box is a special carrier with a handle and drawers, and Jack pulls one out. They look like fancy custom-made decorated cookies. All the typical Christmas shapes of candy canes, wreaths, and stockings are there. The gingerbread men have plaid on though.

“Both of them did this?

“Dean baked them and Cas decorated them.

“What are these?” Jeremy asks holding up a cookie that’s a blob of white frosting with white wings covered in rainbow sprinkles. There’s another one just like it except that the rainbow sprinkles are on black icing, and it has a lot of blue icing dots, too.

“Cas doesn’t like the angel cookie cutters. He chops off the body and smushes the head down. I think he needs better cookie cutter shapes. Hey, I should have thought of that for Christmas.”

“Maybe if you can figure what he wants we could get somebody to make a 3D printer pattern. I know a junior in design.”

“Charlie would probably know what to do, too. She works with computer systems and she’s coming in a few days, so you’ll meet her.”

“Another aunt?” asks Jeremy.

Jack nods and then pauses as Miracle decides that he’s interested in what they have and jumps down to come beg. “You’ve got your own treats for tonight. Are you ready, boy?” He gets back up to find something for Miracle.

Jeremy looks at the cookie closely and sees that Cas drew in feathers with thin gold frosting lines over the white wings, so he spent a lot of time on it. If he thinks it’s another weird thing to do if you believe in angels, he keeps it to himself. “For some reason I like these better than typical angel cookies, too.” Jack looks up from giving Miracle a rawhide chew with a big smile.

“Good. Have as many as you want. We’re supposed make more at the lodge anyway.” Jeremy tries several and finds that they are much better than the average sugar cookie. Some are buttery and others have a hint of almond.

Jack is still smiling and walks over to the foot of the bed to face Jeremy. “I think you have some crumbs.” Jeremy looks down to see crumbs on the top of the bedspread. “You know, some people don’t eat in bed because of crumbs, but you can just brush those off,” Jack says in a knowing tone. Jeremy sees where this is going and responds accordingly.

“Cookie crumbs are _not_ the same as dirt from the bottom of your shoes. There’s no comparison between eating on a bed and wearing shoes on a bed. Just think of the germs!”

“Do you mind seeing Miracle on my bed?”

“Noooo, but he’s a dog.”

“But you didn’t ask me to wipe his feet off when he came in the room. After all, Miracle doesn’t have shoes.”

Seeing Jack work quadratic equations, Jeremy knows that underneath Jack’s ever smiling pleasant face he’s stubborn af, and there are some things he just doesn’t give up on, so he lets out a put upon sigh, holds out a tray of cookies and says with a smile, “Have a cookie and shut up.”

Somewhere there’s a smell that’s telling Dean’s brain that he should wake up. Dean opens his eyes and sees a hand with take out coffee in front of him. He inhales what smells like a wonderful dark roast. He blinks a few times and sees Cas already dressed in a grey-blue sweater and jeans, and holding a take out coffee at arms length near his face.

“Jack brought you some coffee.” Dean grabs it and silently takes a long sip as Cas continues. “The boys are going down to the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. They thought they’d spare you a trip downstairs and got you this first.” Cas presents a foil-wrapped package. Dean hands the coffee back for a minute and unwraps a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich that is very heavy on the bacon. He groans in appreciation and takes a bite.

“’S good,” Dean mumbles.

“Almost awake,” says Cas.

“If you’d been in bed I’d be all the way awake,” says Dean in a highly put out grumble.

“You needed your sleep, but the boys have plans and I wanted to get us going. Check out is at 11.”

“Babe, you can’t wear me out like last night and then expect miracles in the morning.”

Castiel gives an exasperated huff. “You are the only person in the universe who can look so beautiful pouting and smelling like bacon with a mouth full of food.”

“I bet we have time for me to put something else in my mouth after breakfast.” Dean gives Cas an over-the-top eyebrow wiggle.

“Dean Winchester, your lines are terrible. I’m getting out of here to sit with the boys. Maybe you should take a cold shower.” He makes a show of holding up the coffee and putting it on the nightstand so Dean knows where it is and he grabs a key card. Dean realizes that Miracle hasn’t hopped up asking for bacon. “Speaking of Miracles…?”

“He’s still in the boys’ room. I thought we’d leave him there until you finished eating. There’s a key card for their room on the dresser, but I can bring him over now.”

“Nah, I won’t take long. I’ll get him.”

Cas looks like he’s ready to go, but then he turns around and with a soft smile says, “I love you, Dean.”

“I love you, Cas,” answers Dean with a big smile and sparkling green eyes. Cas leaves slowly closing the door with a loud click.

Cas raises his eyebrows at the piles of food the boys are assembling on their plates, and quickly catches up, putting on items he knows Dean will steal if he comes down while they’re still eating.

“So do you two think you’ll be able to get enough to eat?” Cas asks as he sits at the large table they picked.

“I know it looks bad, but I did laps in the hotel pool this morning and I’m starved,” says Jeremy.

“I ran on the exercise room treadmill,” answers Jack.

“I didn’t know you were running, Jack,” says Cas.

“Sam’s sort of my online running coach. I guess he didn’t mention it to you,” Jack shrugs.

“He’s been trying to get me to run regularly, too, so I’m very surprised he didn’t. Maybe he didn’t want Dean to feel he was the odd one out — you know how he pretends to complain about running.”

“So are you going to start running, Dad?”

“Maybe. Right now I’m mainly working with weights and gardening. Well, it’s less gardening and more trying to rehabilitate all the empty lots and spaces around us. Are you running every day?”

“Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday,” lists off Jack as he pours some more orange juice from the table carafe. “I’m not running that long — a couple miles or 30 minutes. I don’t think I’ll want to run as much as Sam, but so far I like it.”

“My first swim coach always said that swimmers should have some weight bearing exercise. What would you think if I joined you sometime?”

“That would be great. You’re already used to getting up early.”

“Just make sure you run on level ground and have good shoes, so you don’t get injured.” Jack and Jeremy smirk and smile over Cas being a protective Dad as Cas tries some hash browns. “These are good, but not as good as Dean’s.”

“I thought so, too, “says Jack, trying to get away with talking and chewing at the same time.

“Dean must be a really good cook. I like these hash browns,” says Jeremy. “Oh Cas, before I forget, I wanted to tell you that the cookies were great. You’re a decorating pro. You should have a YouTube show.”

Cas laughs a deep rumble of a laugh, but looks pleased.

Jack smiles, “He liked your angels, Dad.”

“Not too strange for you?”

“Uh, no?” says Jeremy with a questioning tone.

Cas gives another softer laugh and a smile that crinkles up by his eyes. “So what do you you two have planned for us? You told me we were taking pictures, and I know we need to leave after checkout at 11.”

“We’re going to see the Blue Bear by the Convention Center, and then it’s just a short way to the Selfie Museum. We can park once and walk,” says Jack as he pours some syrup on his waffle. “I had to make reservations, so we need to be there at noon.

“It’s a cross between photography studio space and an art gallery. I take outdoor pictures, so it’ll be something new. I can try out using a ring light,” adds Jeremey.

“So do you want to become a photographer?” asks Cas.

“No, I’d be terrible. Besides, I’m not sure that I believe the whole do what you love thing. I’d like to keep enjoying things I want to do — not try to make money from it.”

“That’s very wise, Jeremy. There’s not one formula for life.” says Cas.

“He was editing the wheat Jesus pictures last night,” adds Jack.

“I thought you two might have had a movie night,”says Cas.

“We did rewatch some of baby Yoda,” says Jack with an excited smile recalling the finale.

Jeremy smirks a bit at Jack and everyone else in the universe calling Grogu baby Yoda, but adds, “We didn’t stay up late. It was a long day and I’m still on Central time.”

Jack goes on.“I was on my group chat, and I worked on a surprise for today.” Jack looks at his phone. “Coming around 10 a.m.”

“Hey, looks like you’ve all done some damage here,” says Dean walking in with Miracle on a leash for once.

“You look nice,” says Cas with a smile. Dean’s in a simple solid green henley with a denim shirt on top and jeans that are darker and less worn than he normally wears.

“That’s funny, because you left out the clothes you wanted me to wear,”

“Just shortening your decision time to get you down here faster,” says Cas with an innocent look. “Plus, I was able to get the suitcase nearly packed for checkout.”

“Uh, huh,”says Dean as he sits down next to Cas and snitches some hash brown with his fingers.

“Ok, I didn’t want you to wear plaid today,” confesses Cas as he hands Dean a fork. “We’re taking pictures at the selfie museum.”

“What is with all the plaid prejudice lately?” Grumbles Dean as he catches a waitresses’ attention.

“Solids are good ‘cause the backgrounds are going to be busy or have bright colors,”says Jeremy and for the first time on the trip he rolls his eyes at Jack’s parents. Dean smiles, pleased at the eye roll.

The waitress comes and asks if he’ll be wanting a buffet plate. Dean’s nodding a no and asking for just coffee when Jack interrupts. “Would you go ahead and bring one? Not for my dad — for someone else coming? And another coffee?”

“Sure sweetie,” the waitress says with a smile.

“Who’s coming?” ask both Dean and Cas.

“It won’t be long and you’ll see. But I’ll give you a hint. It’s one of my aunts.”

“Is it Rowena? Is that the real reason I can’t wear plaid?” asks Dean.

“I’m offended you didn’t guess your _original_ red head Queen, Handmaiden.” says Charlie walking in. She goes to Jack first with a squeal and a hug. “I’m so glad you suggested I drop by.” She plants a big kiss on Jack’s cheek leaving a red mark. “Oh my god, what have I done! I always hated it when my relatives did that to me. I must be getting old. Sorry, Jack.”

“Well, I’ll take getting old over the alternative any day. Get over here Charles!” says Dean with a big smile.

“I’m still on the dreamy guys!” yells Charlie as she goes to give Cas a big hug. “I know better than to kiss you. I might have a revolt of my subject over there,” Charlie jokes as Cas returns her big affectionate squeeze.

“It’s so good to see you Charlie.”

Charlie laughs, “At least we’ve been texting. There used to be times when we’d all just drop off the map.”

The waitress comes by, quickly dropping off items, and retreating out of the way, as Charlie comes around to find Dean.

“Bring it in, Queen,” says Dean standing as Charlie gives another fierce embrace. Miracle jumps on Dean’s chair, and is on the verge of barking hellos to the whole restaurant, excited by all the activity. Dean turns around to grab him, as Charlie slides over to Jeremy.

“You’re Jeremy, right?” At his nod, she adds, “I’m Charlie Bradbury. Brave of you hanging out with these guys,” she says giving him a light side hug. Jeremy breathes a sigh of relief at not being squeezed too hard or kissed.

“They’re ok,” he deadpans, as he looks over to where Cas is trying to get the lipstick off Jack with anapkin dipped in ice water, as Jack squirms a bit. He can’t help breaking into a smile and a laugh as he motions toward them and looks Charlie with a nod of his head. Charlie glances over and laughs, too.

“You want me to grab a little of everything for you?” Jeremy asks. He seems a bit surprised at himself for the offer, but motions to Charlie’s plate.

“Sure, that would be great,” says Charlie, careful not to gush and embarrass him. Jeremy nods and heads off.

Charlie looks at Dean and as she sits says, “Why is that polite young man hanging out with you guys?”

Dean shrugs and says, “Who knows?”

Jack, looking a bit like Cas, says, “I hope you’re not expecting him to be polite all the time. You do know he’s in parent mode?”

“Don’t worry Jack, I guessed that much. We’ll still like your friend when he’s comfortable enough with us to be annoying. Anyway, it’s so weird having people think they need to be polite around us. We’re that old.”

“Hey, I have to hold interviews with people who don’t believe I’m a millennial and call me m’am.”

“So hiring is your current project for Sam,”asks Cas.

“Yep. We’re a legit non-profit, but we’re trying to get people who are both talented and who aren’t 100% civilian, if you know what I mean.” says Charlie looking over her shoulder as Jeremy comes back with her plate.

“Thanks! This is great,” she says taking it from him. “Anyway, there was someone with the background we were looking for in St. Louis, but that didn’t pan out, so Mom and I left early for Denver. I’ve got to get back to the Tech Center for an appointment this afternoon.”

“On a Sunday? Really, Charlie. This sounds too nose to the grindstone.” Dean makes a grimace.

“Trust me, it’s not. If you want to talk to people when they aren’t working their current job, or if you want to fly under the radar with their employer, the weekend is a good idea. I goof off plenty on Sam’s time,” she says with a laugh. “After that one meeting, I’m going to spend some time with my mom in town, and then I’ll join you guys in a few days like we planned.”

“You could bring your mother,” says Cas.

“I really should. She’s been traveling around with me on my work trips, but I’m a little selfish. I still want to keep my time with her to myself. And she likes to have some time on her own, too, so I don’t want to dump her into a situation with a lot of people.”

“Understandable,” says Cas mildly. “We should let you eat.”

“Yeah, tell me about your trip while I try the hash browns.”

Dean chuckles, “We’re doing road tourist stuff for once. Stopped by the Wheat Jesus sign.”

“Did you go by the Ball of Twine?” asks Charlie between bites.

“The Ball of Twine was east of where we hit 70, and since we were heading to Denver we missed that one.”

“Maybe we can see that on the trip back to Lawrence,” suggests Jack.

“And we meant to go by the windmills,” says Jeremy.

Dean shakes his head in exaggerated mock exasperation, but promises to go along with whatever is planned. He shoots Cas a quick, private look, which Cas picks up on with the slightest of nods. Looks like Jeremy’s still not ready to talk about going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's Important Issue: why the heck does Jack wear his shoes when he sits on his bed?! What is that?


	7. Click, click

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tourist photography -- click, click

“So ya coming with to our tourist thing,” asks Dean.

“Dude, I just came for hugs and breakfast,” says Charlie pointing to her plate.

“I’m hurt.”

“Nnnnoooo. Don’t say that.”

“Come on, Charlie. We can recreate our fashion montage moment.”

Cas raises an eyebrow as Jack says, “Sounds like there’s a story there, dad.”

“The story is that he made me wear a totally boring pantsuit.”

“You’re killing me with nostalgia.”

Cas joins in, “Let’s approach it another way. Charlie, how much time do you need to get to your appointment and get ready? If you subtract that from the available time, how long can you spend with us?”

“Cas, don’t attack me with arguments that sound like math class story problems.”

For some reason that puts both Jack and Jeremy into giggles. After Dean and Cas recover from seeing Jeremy laugh for what feels like a full minute, they find that Charlie has melted, and she agrees to come. She has to pull her laptop out of her courier bag to get a reservation confirmation for the selfie museum, even though the time is sold out.

“No problem. It’s not even really a hack. I’m just asking nicely for their system to let me buy a ticket.” She flexes her fingers,“And I’m very persuasive.”

It’s a logistical event getting everyone to the Convention Center, but they manage it. They all pose for a few pics with the Big Blue Bear on street level, but the bear is positioned so that he’s looking into the building, not facing out. To get it facing the camera means going into the Center. Dean and Charlie stay with Miracle to do some catching up, while Cas follows the boys inside.

“So, tell me more about your mom,” says Dean.

“Handled the past year earthside like a champ. Lots of Netflix binging.” Dean nods looking sad. “Hey Dean, we both know your mom’s situation was different.”

“Yeah, no choice — didn’t even realize she was in heaven. Amara just yanked her out to be a thank you fruit basket, so no wonder she decided to stay in heaven the second time around when she could choose.”

“Are you doing ok?”

“Cas and I are old married guys. Sam and Eileen are changing the family business to something positive. Jack gets to be a kid — ok a college kid — but a kid with friends. You’re here. Jody and Donna and the girls are happy. Somehow Rowena manages to be Queen of Hell and still spoil Jack every time we turn our backs. I know Kevin and his mom are out there living their lives, even if they don’t check in that often. And everyone else I care about who isn’t here is in heaven or wherever of their own free will. It don’t get better than that.”

“But?”

“I still think about Mom and Dad,” sighs Dean.

“Parents and kids, right?”

“Yeah, parents and kids.”

Charlie decides it’s not the time or place to dig any deeper, so she changes the subject. “So speaking of kids, adopting another one?”

“Maybe,” says Dean seriously.

“What’s the story?”

“Divorce. Doesn’t want to go home. Jack asked him to come. Honestly, I think he’d like to stay with us until school starts in January, but Cas says his parents are semi-normal, ok, people who love him, so he should go home for Christmas. You know, make up and get divorce guilt gifts. Sam checked them out, too.”

“Now I’m offended that he didn’t ask me to run the background checks,” quips Charlie.

“You taught Sam well, and he probably didn’t see any red flags. Guess we need to start nudging him home.”

“Dude, if you and Cas weren’t already together, it could be a Hallmark movie about love, forgiveness, and helping a kid discover the true meaning of Christmas.”

“Oh, sure. Just including an ex-deity, an ex-angel, and a guy who’s retired from killing monsters. Yeah, I’m seeing more of a Halloween thing.

“Have you not watched the Hallmark Channel lately? For most Christmas movies, there’s always at least one mysterious character who’s really Santa, or an angel, or an elf. You guys are just a little ahead of the curve.”

“Ok, but two men?”

“You have a point there, but change is gonna come. There’s a lesbian holiday rom-com on Netflix.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and now I know watching has to be a family activity.”

“You’re right. It’s happening.”

Dean puts out his hand for a fist bump, and they’re sealing the deal as Cas and the boys come up. “The gift shop is closed on Sundays,” Jack says.

Teasing Jack, Dean has a lightly mocking tone as he says,”Oh no, what are we gonna do, Cas?”

Everyone gets ready to walk to their next stop, and Cas flaps a flyer with a picture of the Big Blue Bear at Dean and Charlie, before folding it to put in his back pocket. Dean shakes his head with smile, while Charlie, gives a big wink and goes to whisper to Cas.

Cas likes to get Jack whatever he wants. Sam tries to be a practical dad, talk about things rationally, and use phrases like “wants versus needs.” He was the one to set up a budget and accounts for Jack at college. Sam dutifully reviews monthly statements with Jack online. Dean figures that given the deprived childhoods they’ve all had, a few things here and there aren’t going to break them, or turn Jack into an asshole. Also he figures that Cas and Charlie have the Big Blue Bear souvenir covered.

“Dean, you should carry Miracle. The website says small dogs are allowed in, so if you carry him in, they’ll think he’s small,” says Jack

Dean wants to protest that’s not logical, but there actually _is_ a human psychology to it that makes sense, and he sometimes carries Miracle anyway, so he picks him up with a shrug. He decides to keep carrying him for a bit, since they have some stairs to go down. He’s always afraid someone is going to trip on Miracle or his leash.

“Whoa,” Dean says as they pass a large set of hot pink wings — apparently angel wings — on a white background.

“Hmm…” Cas says as he looks at it with squinty eyes and a confused expression.

“It’s really weird, isn’t it?”asks Jack with a scrunched up face.

“So I’m thinking you don’t want a picture by these?” asks Jeremy.

Cas says, “Let’s just look around at some of the other backdrops.”

Charlie raises an eyebrow at them and follows. Some people are walking around with phones out, but there are others with DSLR cameras like, Jeremy. There’s one couple who seems to have a professional photographer with an assistant following them around. Everything is bright colors and mixed textures. There’s a pink plush wall with pay phones on it, a wall full of yellow gum ball machines, and an area with giant chopsticks and sushi pieces. It’s a lot.

“Charlie, I feel old.”

“Nah, you’ll adjust in a few minutes.”

“You don’t get to feel older than I do, Dean,” says Cas.

Jack spots something and motions them over. “Oh, this is cool. I saw this one online. The bed is attached to the wall so when you walk on the floor, you can look like you’re walking on the walls, or jump and look like you’re falling.”

“Yeah, I like this one,” says Charlie. “Ok, handmaiden, time to earn your title.” Charlie gets Dean and Cas to help her do a handstand, and everyone does lots of jumping up and down. Miracle gets passed around a bit as a prop but he’s an oddly good natured dog, who seems incapable of getting stressed.

“I feel like Miracle is the dog version of Jack. He’s always smiling and calm,” confesses Charlie. “How do you manage it, Dean?”

“He’s just a damn good dog,” says Dean.

“Personally, I think it’s because you carry him around so much,” says Cas.

“I don’t carry him that much,” protests Dean.

Cas and Jack take that opportunity to laugh and look knowingly at each other, and Dean even hears a snicker from behind the camera.

About that time they decide to clear out as other people are circling, but they’ve had a good ice breaker, and are ready to tackle some more rooms. As they walk, Dean notices one that’s entirely pink from the furniture to the walls.

“Ow. My eyes. Let’s skip that one,” says Dean already turning around.

Jeremy interrupts. “Hey, you know who that room is perfect for?”

“Who?” asks Dean skeptically.

“Miracle. Why don’t you get him to sit on the table in front of the mirror.”

Sure enough, Miracle’s light fur makes a good contrast and gives the eye something to rest on. He seems quite happy to pose. Dean is won over, cooing at Miracle to get him to turn his head one way or another at Jeremy’s direction. Jack stands next to Jeremy duplicating some of the shots on Dean’s phone.

Charlie and Cas roll their eyes at each other with matching smiles.

“We may never get him out of here,” says Cas.

“I really should go, so let me tell him goodbye and that will give you all a chance to hit pause.” Cas nods. “Hey handmaiden!” yells Charlie unapologetically in the public space. “I gotta leave. Come hug me goodbye.”

Dean jogs up with Miracle following.

“What? Abandoning us already?”

“You guys were lucky I caved and gave you my whole morning! Seriously, I should go. I need to interview someone later and I want to get ready.”

“I’m sorry you can’t stay longer, but we’ll be seeing you soon, Charlie,” says Cas.

“Yeah just a couple of days. I’ll DM you.”

“I’m holding you to that, Charles.”

“Jeremy, it was good to meet you. These guys are weirdos, but they’re Good People.”

“Yeah, I know,” he says with a small smile.

“Jack..” Before Charlie can finish, Jack has her in a big hug.

“Ok, now share,” Dean says and Charlie gives everyone hugs.

“I’ll be checking IG!” Charlie says, and then waves and turns to the exit.

Dean gives a sigh, and then says, “Ok, so which other rooms to do you want to hit?”

They decide not to force themselves to do everything, and settle on a few more: the coloring book area for Jack and a reluctant Jeremy; the happy face wall for Jack; the donut wall for Dean, Cas, Jack and Miracle; and the boys insist that Dean and Cas pose at the heart wall.

For the coloring book room, Jeremy quickly sets up the camera, adjusts the ring light, and tells Cas what to push on the DSLR. Dean hands them a couple oversized crayons for props, laughs at them, and takes some pics on Jack’s camera, too. He wisely doesn’t say that he’s laughing because Jeremy looks like a storm cloud and Jack looks like a beaming sun.

They do mange to get a few of Jeremy off guard. Cas yelled, “Say story problems,” instead of “say cheese” and Jack started laughing while Jeremy had a confused expression, on par with some Dean has seen from Cas. Dean let Miracle run up and jump on him, which resulted in a smile, and him dropping the crayon. Dean also employed the sneakier strategy of taking pictures with his phone after Cas said they were all done and he had a small relieved smile.

They zip through the happy faces and donuts so other people can use them, but take a little longer at the wall of hearts because Dean and Cas decide to goof off. Dean makes exaggerated heart eyes at Cas who pretends to be annoyed, holding Dean at arms length. Then Cas relents and Dean pulls him as if to dance, and they dance a bit and do a spin. Jack applauds, as do a few spectators, but then Jack tells them to do a serious one. They both roll their eyes and then stand about a foot apart facing each other, and they just look at each other. Jeremy only takes a couple pictures and then says that they should call it a day. There are other people waiting, so they head back the way they came.

They’re near the pink wings again, when Cas stops. “Jack, let’s go ahead and take a picture here. You and me.” Jeremy and Dean direct them to the middle of the wings and Jack stands in front of Cas. Cas lays his chin on Jack’s shoulder and they both smile for the camera. Then Jack decides to give Cas a hug so he turns a bit and they have a sideways hug with their heads close together. Cas gives him a kiss on the forehead and they declare themselves done. They move away so other people can take pictures at the wings, but they stop a few minutes to look the images on the cameras.

“Jack, I always thought you looked like Cas, but seeing you two in a picture like this… Dean, they’re so much alike.”

Dean lets out a whistle. “I’ve got a handsome husband and a handsome son.”

“Can I see the camera roll Dean?” asks Cas.

“This is the best one on Dean’s phone,” says Jeremy pointing.

Cas smiles and sends it to Jack’s phone, and to the family group chat.

“I didn’t think I’d say this, but I don’t want to take any more pictures for a while,” says Jeremy as they walk outside.

“We’ve only been on vacation a couple days. What about the mountain scenery?” Asks Jack. Jeremy gives a signature dramatic groan, and startles a bit as Cas grabs his tripod so he doesn’t have to carry it.

“I don’t know — ask me later,” says Jeremy. Noticing Jack has a bit of frown, Jeremy says, “It was good though. I wouldn’t mind going back to tackle the room with all the mirrors, or maybe some more touristy stuff that’s around town — street art, statues. But I’m looking forward to being in one place for a while.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing Sam and Eileen,” says Jack.

“Sounds like we should should get on the road and have lunch on the way,” says Cas.

“Hey J, are you good to drive about 45 minutes once we get back to the cars?” ask Dean.

“Sure, the cold air and this walk have me pretty alert.”

“Let’s go to Idaho Springs.”

“The supercharger station there?” At this point, Jeremy and Dean have a map of all the charging stations on I-70 in their heads.

“Sure. Good enough place to stop and get our bearings, while we figure out where to have lunch.”

Jeremy tries to take his tripod back, but Cas just gives him a pat on the back with his free hand and moves away.

“Don’t bother. Besides, he can show off how strong he is,” Dean says, earning a raised eyebrow from Cas — which Dean doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say thank you to the (probably) 30 people reading this. I appreciate your time!


End file.
